Resonator



J. HERZOG.

RESONATOR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, I9I9.

Patented Nov. 22 1921.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY --devices described and UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HERZOG, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO SONORA PHONOGRAIPH COM- PANY, INQ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

nnsonaron.

Application filed February 26, 1919. Serial No. 279,887.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN Hrmzoc, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Resonators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to resonators and pertains more particularly to an improved construction for horns of sound-reproducing initruments such as phonographs and the li e.

The objects of m improvement are, first, to provide a horn aving a sound-carrying channel of angular cross-sectional shape, the walls of the channel-being in the form of warped or twisted planes, whereby the resonance of the horn is increased and the quality ortimbre of the sound is unimpaired by its transmission through the resonator.

A further object isto provide a horn of such construction and shape that it can be madeof wood" at relatively small expense and yet be of such shape that that part of the tapered body near the smaller end of the horn may be bent laterally and upwardly toa'position such that the tone arm of a phonograph may be joined to the upper end of the horn at one corner of the motor board of the instrument, while enabling the horn to deliver the sound from its flared end extending across the front of the cabinet of the phonograph. Thus the .horn, in its preferred form, passes underneath themotor, and then laterally and u wardly to the corner of the motor boar occupying small space and enabling the horn and the mechanism of the phonograph to be arranged compactly.

ith the foregoing and certain other objects in view which will appear later'in the specification, my invention consists in the claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a resonator or horn built inaccordance with my invention and. shown as it would appear when viewed from one side.

Fig. 2 1s a rear end view shown inverted.

Fig. 3 is a to plan view of the form of horn shown in ig. 1.

Fig. 4 1s a perspective view ofthe horn as seen from above.

F 5 is a side elevation.

Flg. 6 is a perspective view, showing the side opposite that illustrated in Fig. 1.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, the horn consists in a body 1 having an inlet 2 and an enlarged flaring sound outlet 3.

In cross-sectional shape the body of the horn is preferably an lar. In the preferredform illustrated in the drawings it is shown of rectangular cross section, but it may be square or hexagonal, or of any other suitable angular form.

As illustrated in Figs. 1, 4 and 6, the body 1 is made in a shape it would assume if twisted about its longitudinal axis, that is to say: the top wall, as 4, of the horn at its outlet end is warped or twisted so it becomes a side wall, as .5, at the inlet end. The walls of the sound-carrying channel of the horn thereby become warped planes.

In phonograph horns as adapted for use in present-day designs of cabinets, it is de-.

sirable that the flared outlet end 3 shall form a part ofthe front of the cabinet and that the inlet 2 shall pro'ect upwardly through the motor board an that the tone arm of the instrument shall connect with the inlet 2 at the'motor board. The inlet 2 may be located centrally with respect to the side walls of the cabinet, or it may be located in one of the rear corners of the motor board. For purpose of illustrating my invention I have selected a horn adapted to the latter arrangement.

The horn is capable of being easily and cheaply constructed of thin veneer or wood bent to proper form. In the preferred rectangular form shown in the drawings- Fig. 3both side walls 6 and 7 have the form of bent plane surfaces. In practice they are made of flat sheets of veneer bent to the desired form and constitute warped walls generated by vertical elements. Although the horn may have a neck that is bent both laterally and upwardly with a double curvature which produces in effect a twisted channel, yet the side walls are capable of being made of flat sheets of veneer easily bent to the desired form, pro- Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

great strength and 4 twisted form of horn. but also that the. tone quality is greatly improved, there being a noticeable lack of sound wave mterterenceproducing beats, and a remarkable degree of blending or mellowness.

The mechanical causes for these effects I am not able at this time to fully explain, although the results of the practical use of my invention conclusively prove that my improved angular twisted horn does produce the desirable results above enumerated.

The improved degree of resonance, or the increase in the volume of sound depending upon synchronous vibration of the mass of partly inclosed air is possibly due to the fact that the comparatively flat but axially twisted walls present surfaces against which the incident sound waves impinge and are reflected without the damping action that occurs when such sound waves strike and are deflected from a concave surface. The absence of interference or beats may be accounted-for on the theory that a group of sound waves projected down through the inlet 2 impinge upon and are reflected from the warped-plane walls and impinge successively against other warped-plane walls a number of times before leaving the outlet 3. The wall surfaces which are successively impinged upon by a given sound wave are located angularly with respect to each other, and consequently two adjacent sound waves starting together at the inlet 2. would not be deflected alike. from all of the successive surfaces. Hence two sound waves of nearly the same pitch could not travel together a sullicieut distance to produce interfering rarefactions and coudensations. In other words, all the sound waves are so thoroughly mixed in their passage through the horn by reason of the warped-plane angularly disposed walls that interference and beats due to overtones are almost, if not entirely avoided.

The foregoing explanation of the possible mechanical reasons for the improved results which in practice I obtain by this device is merely offered as a possible explanation, but the spirit of my invention resides in the construction and arrangement of parts by which the foregoing results are attained rather than in the theoretical analysis of the mechanical reasons for their accomplislnnent.

llaving thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

i A horn for souud-reprmlucing instruments comprising a tapered body and an elongated neck, each of the side walls and top and bottom walls of said body and neck formed of a single. piece of material bent to the contour of said body, the neck portion of each of said walls twisted and turned upwardly. said walls forming a souml-carrying channel in which successive cross sections are in slightly rotated positions with relation to each other.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN HERZ( )(l. 

